Rufus Bonds News

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and Tristan Wilson, Managing Director, presents the BSC Musical Theatre Lab new workshop production of two-time Tony winner William Finn's acclaimed Romance in Hard Times, featuring a new book by Finn's Spelling Bee collaborator, Tony winner Rachel Sheinkin.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and Tristan Wilson, Managing Director, presents the BSC Musical Theatre Lab new workshop production of two-time Tony winner William Finn's acclaimed Romance in Hard Times, featuring a new book by Finn's Spelling Bee collaborator, Tony winner Rachel Sheinkin.

Timothy Sheader's critically acclaimed production of Porgy and Bess which ends its strictly limited run at Regents Park Open Air Theatre on 23 August, draws on talent from both sides of the Atlantic, Rufus Bonds Jr plays Porgy and Nicola Hughes plays Bess, with Phillip Boykin as Crown, Cedric Neal as Sportin' Life and Olivier Award-winning Sharon D Clarke as Mariah. Check out highlights from the production below!

Last night, Monday 28 July, was the Opening Night of the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess which runs at Regents Park Open Air Theatre until 23 August. After the show, cast, creative team and invited guests enjoyed a summer drink of Canard Duchene Champagne on the lawn of Regents Park Open Air Theatre, accompanied by Belly Pork Croquettes with Roasted Corn Cream and Lemon Cone Trees. Check out the photos below!

Celebrated as a landmark piece of American theatre with iconic songs including 'Summertime', 'I Got Plenty of Nothing', 'I Loves You Porgy' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So', Porgy and Bess will be directed by Regents Park Open Air Theatre's Artistic Director Timothy Sheader, with a book adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and a musical score adapted by Diedre L. Murray. Check out a first look at the production below!

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess will run at Regents Park Open Air Theatre from 17 July to 23 August with Opening Night for press on 28 July. Celebrated as a landmark piece of American theatre with iconic songs including 'Summertime', 'I Got Plenty of Nothing', 'I Loves You Porgy' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So', Porgy and Bess will be directed by Regents Park Open Air Theatre's Artistic Director Timothy Sheader, with a book adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and a musical score adapted by Diedre L. Murray.

Rehearsals have now started, for the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess which will run at Regents Park Open Air Theatre from 17 July to 23 August with Opening Night for press on 28 July. Celebrated as a landmark piece of American theatre with iconic songs including 'Summertime', 'I Got Plenty of Nothing', 'I Loves You Porgy' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So', Porgy and Bess will be directed by Regents Park Open Air Theatre's Artistic Director Timothy Sheader, with a book adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and a musical score adapted by Diedre L. Murray.

Casting for Regent's Park Open Air Theatre's 2014 production of All My Sons was announced today, with further casting confirmed for Hobson's Choice and the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. The season opens on 15 May.

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has confirmed lead casting for Hobson's Choice and the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Mark Benton will play Henry Hobson in Hobson's Choice, with Jodie McNee as his daughter Maggie. Rufus Bonds Jr and Nicola Hughes play the title roles in Porgy and Bess with Phillip Boykin re-creating his Tony Award nominated performance as Crown, and Sharon D Clarke as Mariah.

Ah, yes. 2013 was indeed an outstanding year for theater in Southern California. Even better: Orange County---my home base---boasted some of the best shows, period---marking an exciting theater renaissance in brilliance and artistry that I hope continues to grow here inside L.A.'s next door neighbor. With that said, here is my Top 10 Stage Shows of 2013 from Orange County and adjacent locales nearby, followed by my picks for the year's best performances.

San Diego Musical Theatre announces Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show, at the Birch North Park Theatre from tonight, September 27 - October 13, 2013 at the Birch North Park Theatre. The outrageously prodigious comic and musical soul of 1930's Harlem lives on in this rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping revue that is still considered one of Broadway's best. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

San Diego Musical Theatre announces Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show, at the Birch North Park Theatre from September 27 - October 13, 2013 at the Birch North Park Theatre. The outrageously prodigious comic and musical soul of 1930's Harlem lives on in this rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping revue that is still considered one of Broadway's best. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

San Diego Musical Theatre announces Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show, (September 27-October 13: Preview on Friday, September 27, Press Opening on Saturday, September 28th and performances until October 13th.) at the Birch North Park Theatre. The outrageously prodigious comic and musical soul of 1930's Harlem lives on in this rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping revue that is still considered one of Broadway's best. Check out a sneak peek of the cast below!

San Diego Musical Theatre announces Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show, at the Birch North Park Theatre from September 27 - October 13, 2013 at the Birch North Park Theatre. The outrageously prodigious comic and musical soul of 1930's Harlem lives on in this rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping revue that is still considered one of Broadway's best.

San Diego Musical Theatre announces Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show, (press opening on Saturday, September 28) at the Birch North Park Theatre. The outrageously prodigious comic and musical soul of 1930's Harlem lives on in this rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping revue that is still considered one of Broadway's best. Check out the cast below!

One of the most stunning, brilliantly-staged productions I've seen in the past few years, Orange County's 3D Theatricals has, once again, outdone itself with its moving, epic-sized revival of Jason Robert Brown's Tony Award-winning musical PARADE. Now playing a limited engagement through May 26 at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, this triumphant, emotionally-resonant, Broadway-caliber presentation directed by 3DT's co-founder and artistic director TJ Dawson ranks as, arguably, the best musical this relatively young regional theater company has produced thus far.

In 1998 when Jason Robert Brown won a Tony Award for the score of this unusually provocative musical Parade, the opulent Broadway production closed to critical acclaim, but due to excessive costs, the show remained inaccessible until the Donmar Warehouse resurrected it and produced a tight - minus the frills - mounting at the Mark Taper Forum in 2009. 3-D Theatricals, who are becoming increasingly known for their superlative skill with producing big musicals, have decided to put back many of the frills of the original and double the cast to its original size - 36, in order to enhance and give the musical the big, full-voiced chorus sound it deserves. And, in my mind, this bigger hybrid version surpasses the Taper's for its grande musical elegance and the presence of a perfectly cast lead actor in the role of Leo Frank, Jeff Skowron.

3-D Theatricals presents PARADE now through May 26, 2013 at Plummer Auditorium, 201 East Chapman Ave, Fullerton, Calif., directed by T.J. Dawson, choreographed by Dana Solimando and musically directed by David Lamoureux. BroadwayWorld was there for opening night and brings you photos from the celebrations below!